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Chapter 67: Awakening Nen and the Test Results
The text written on the Contract Parchment was dense and detailed, but it could essentially be boiled down to six core clauses.
Three of them were highly beneficial to Suyan.
The first clause was the absolute core of the ability: upon signing, Suyan would gain the contracted partner's Nen affinity, allowing him to train in their specific category. Furthermore, as the contracted partner trained and grew stronger, Suyan would perfectly synchronize with their progress, gaining all the stat boosts and unique Hatsu abilities they developed.
The second clause stated that when Suyan and a contracted partner were physically linked or fighting together, the aura of both individuals would be amplified, and their training speed would equate to the sum of their combined individual rates.
The third clause granted Suyan a permanent, passive boost to his baseline training speed for every person he contracted.
These were the immense benefits he reaped from the Equivalent Exchange.
Next came the severe restrictions imposed upon him. These, too, were threefold.
First, conjuring the Contract Parchment required Suyan to permanently expend a portion of his own aura. Once signed, this aura formed a 'Nen Seed' within the target, allowing them to rapidly and safely master the flow of their Life Energy without any side effects. Because this aura was permanently severed from him, it could not naturally regenerate.
Second, if a contracted partner ever exhausted their own aura during combat, they could forcefully draw upon Suyan's reserves to sustain themselves. The maximum amount they could drain was equal to the total amount of aura they had synchronized to Suyan through their own training.
Third—and by far the most lethal condition—was that once a contract was signed, it could never be broken.
If a contracted partner ever died, regardless of the cause, all the aura and Nen abilities Suyan had synchronized from them would instantly be sacrificed to fuel their resurrection. In addition to that, Suyan had to permanently sacrifice a portion of his own hard-earned aura. The exact cost depended on how difficult the resurrection was, but the absolute minimum price was an amount equal to the contracted partner's maximum aura capacity.
If Suyan did not have enough aura to cover the cost, the resurrection would fail, but the drained aura would still be permanently lost. Years of grueling training could vanish in an instant.
Naturally, this miraculous revival could only be triggered once per contracted partner. After resurrection, all other contract conditions remained active, except for one critical change: the contracted partner's future training progress would no longer synchronize with Suyan.
"Finished reading?" Suyan asked calmly, looking at the flaxen-haired girl before him.
Rei nodded, then lifted her head to meet his gaze. The first thought in her mind wasn't whether she should sign it, but whether Saeko and the others already had.
"Suyan, have Saeko and the others…"
Before she could finish the sentence, Suyan answered directly. "Shizuka and Saeko have already signed."
Rei paused for a moment. When Suyan didn't elaborate, she asked curiously, "What about Miss Minami?"
"I gave her the exact same three choices I gave you," Suyan replied, a helpless edge to his voice. "But she has a fiercely competitive personality. She loves challenging the impossible. So, she chose not to sign the contract right away. She wants to try awakening her aura naturally first, and only sign after she succeeds."
"Is that so?" Rei thought about it. Even though she had known Rika for less than a day, based on what she saw last night, she wasn't entirely surprised by that choice. "I understand."
But when Rei said I understand, she wasn't talking about Rika's choice.
She meant that she finally completely understood the dynamic. Shizuka, Saeko, and Rika—the three women who had already been intimate with Suyan—were all people who had either signed the contract or were guaranteed to sign it.
And given the terrifyingly strict conditions written on that parchment, it was glaringly obvious that Suyan would never, ever abandon someone he had contracted.
This realization made her heart pound anxiously.
Even though Shizuka and Saeko were already ahead of her, and Rika had shamelessly cut in line, deep down, Rei had still harbored a faint, secret fantasy of monopolizing Suyan.
But seeing this contract completely shattered that final, naive illusion.
So, what was she going to do? Sign her name and join the fold?
Or give up entirely and walk away?
Rei hesitated for less than a single second.
Give up? Walk away? Are you kidding me? How could she possibly give up now? She had always known, deep down, from the way Suyan acted, that he was the greedy type who wanted everything and everyone. She just hadn't wanted to admit it to herself, choosing to selectively ignore it.
But her subconscious recognition of this fact had already driven her actions. When she realized she was falling behind, she immediately allied herself with Saya—forming a relationship built on both cooperation and competition.
To tell her to give up now? That was a joke. It was impossible.
Besides, the world had already ended. What was the point of clinging to the old rules and societal norms?
She chose to advance without hesitation.
Having made up her mind, Rei looked at him and asked, "Suyan, which one do you want me to choose?"
Even as she joined the collective, she desperately wanted to become the most important person in his heart. So, she handed the ultimate decision regarding her future directly to him.
"The second option," Suyan answered without missing a beat.
Although he had technically given them three choices, there were really only two. Since awakening her aura—whether she succeeded or failed—wouldn't prevent her from signing the contract later, the first option (signing immediately without awakening) could be completely bypassed.
As for the third option (natural awakening), it wasn't that Suyan looked down on Rei. First, Rika had already chosen to pioneer that path. Second, Rei's physical fitness, mental willpower, and combat experience were leagues below a top-tier elite operator like Rika.
One person testing the natural awakening route was enough. There was no need for the other contracted girls to waste their time on it.
"Okay." Rei didn't have any complicated ulterior motives. Since she had made her decision, she placed 100% of her trust in Suyan. "Suyan, let's do it your way. Help me awaken my aura."
"Brace yourself, then."
Suyan was slightly surprised by her immediate compliance, but he didn't waste time talking. He focused his aura into the palm of his hand and gently struck Rei's body.
Whoosh—! In an instant, the Aura Nodes all over Rei's body were forcefully blasted open. Life Energy surged out of her like water bursting from an open floodgate.
"Alright, Rei. Try your best to control the Life Energy pouring out of you," Suyan instructed, clapping his hands together. "If you feel any discomfort or pain, tell me immediately, and I'll seal your nodes back up."
"No. I will succeed," Rei stated, her voice ironclad with determination.
Feeling the raw power of the Life Energy cascading around her, the sensation of turning into a living, breathing geyser was profoundly surreal.
But beneath that awe, her mind was racing with other thoughts.
Shizuka, Saeko, and Rika had all been intimate with him. Now, Suyan was actively awakening her aura and preparing to contract her. Was this his way of dropping a hint?
At that moment, regardless of whether her assumption was right or wrong, Rei fiercely convinced herself: As long as I successfully master my aura today, I'm sneaking into Suyan's room tonight.There's no way he'd reject me, right? After making sure Rei understood the precautions, Suyan turned his attention back to Yuriko.
While he had been awakening Rei's aura, Yuriko's Water Divination test had concluded.
On the surface, nothing had changed. The volume of the water remained the same, the color hadn't shifted, and the leaf was completely undisturbed.
Judging by appearances alone, the result was obvious.
"Mhm, it's sweet."
Yuriko picked up the glass, took a delicate sip, and let out a soft chuckle. "It seems I belong to the Transmutation Type after all."
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